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John Whelan

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There has been much debate during 2014 about the effectiveness of the US Safe Harbour regime. Many EU commentators have queried its effectiveness, pointing in particular to the lack of enforcement over the years by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the body which effectively is charged with dealing with complaints that companies are not in compliance with their public representations of adherence to the Safe Harbour principles.
Continue Reading SnapChat Signs Up to 20 Years of Data Protection Audits

Audit provisions are a common feature of a wide range of IP and technology agreements. They can be seen by those seeking the audit right as a practical way to monitor key aspects of a commercial deal. Security standards being applied to data, accuracy of billing, compliance with licence restrictions or, in some cases, general compliance with the agreed contract are often the subject of audit rights.

The general compliance audit right seems useful on the face of it. But a recent English High Court decision illustrates that a broad audit clause can raise more questions than it answers.

The…
Continue Reading Audit Clauses in IT Contracts: The Broader the Better?

Great day today attending the Health Informatics Society of Ireland 2014 Annual Conference.  In our Data Protection for Healthcare workshop together with Sarah Reade, Lead ICT Project Manager, Saint John of God Hospitaller Ministries and Jim Gregg, Irish Computer Society, we had a lively discussion on the data protection challenges faced by medical practitioners in the context of research and access requests. Continue Reading Health Informatics Society of Ireland 2014 Annual Conference